ERIC resources and training help play specialist win award

Hospital Play Leader Joanna Williams has won a Unison Health Award for her work helping children with constipation problems.

Joanna has worked as a play leader at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital for nine years. In her role she provides children with distraction and play during their stay in hospital and helps make their time on the ward less stressful.

After attending an ERIC study day on childhood bowel and bladder health, Joanna became involved with the weekly constipation clinic run by the nurse practitioners.

She provides play input and reward systems as well as information and links to ERIC for families needing assistance with toileting and continence.

She has found that introducing play and routine to the children’s toilet time helps them succeed with improving their continence.

Joanna said: "Due to the understanding I now have from working with the children and families with constipation, I am able to send out information packs, routines, customised reward charts and communicate with the families whilst they are at home. This makes dealing with their toilet refusal/stool withholding behaviour a lot less stressful and improves our chances of success. The work I do is all thanks to your charity and the information and support you provide."

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